Chronic illness can change you in so many ways. 

Chronic illness can change you in so many ways. 

  • Internal changes like how your organs, digestion, metabolism, etc. work or don’t work properly.

  • Mental health changes as you need to adjust to your current situation, the changes in your life, and perhaps even adapt your goals and dreams for your future.

  • External changes like weight gain or loss, hair loss, skin rashes, scars from surgeries, swollen limbs and joints, and so much more.

It is common for those of us with chronic illness to get depressed with the changes in how we look.

It’s bad enough that we don’t feel well and our life has already been flipped upside down. The change in our appearance can feel devastating to some. 

This story is about the changes that can occur with your teeth. 

Autoimmune illness and the medications we take can read havoc on our teeth. Our teeth can literally break, or crumble, or simply loosen and fall out on their own. 

Many chronically ill people in their 30’s and 40’s end up needing to have teeth pulled, get implants, or even full dentures.

This is not a matter of hygiene, as we all know, and there is very little we can do to control it. 

Unfortunately, there are many people who can’t afford to fix their missing teeth, which makes the whole situation even more difficult.

The only thing we have control over is how we react to it. 

I should know. In the last three years, I have had three teeth pulled and found out this weekend I probably need to have another one pulled. 

Initially, I cried. I was mad and overwhelmed. I said… “Why me? How can this be happening again? I am young-ish… I should not be losing my teeth.” 

I was devastated. I worried about what an implant would look like, how much money it would cost, how much pain I would be in, would it cause a flare?

Once I let all that out, I swallowed my sadness and pride and said, “OK, Rachel…how are we going to get through this with the least amount of damage to my physical and mental health?” 

Luckily, I’ve done the hard work over many years of learning to not be reactive, learning to find the good in the bad, and learning to work on my mental mindset so I don’t get completely destabilized when things like this happen. 

Figuring out how to handle this kind of change is not something you can learn by googling “how do I handle these kind of changes?” 

So how did I do it? Over the years, I saw therapists, counselors and coaches, reiki practitioners, acupuncturist, and more. I took courses on meditation and mental health… essentially, I asked for help. 

The great news is that once you learn the methods that work best for you, life becomes a lot easier to face, even with a chronic illness. 

Health coaching is designed for these kinds of obstacles we face with autoimmune disease. I don’t tell you what to do or what to think, or give advice that you must follow. 

I empower YOU to help yourself, asking the right questions to help you learn how to not allow your condition and all it’s changes to blow your life up.

You can spend hours googling… believe me, I tried, but you won’t get a personalized approach that will work for YOU long-term. 

No amount of healthy food and exercise will change how you react to situations like losing your teeth. You need to feed and exercise your mental health and learn the best recipes (tools) for you to continue putting one foot in front of the other, with or without teeth. 

Want to learn more? Schedule a free call. There is no obligation, but it may be the call that changes your relationship with your chronic illness.